Good Morning, Islanders Country.
If the return of Patrick Roy to Colorado was the story off the ice, the return of Ilya Sorokin was the story on the ice. The franchise goaltender showed that he was indeed back, and more importantly, his back was back, looking healthy and more than capable of making the type of back-bending saves we’ve grown accustomed to through the years. Also, some of the little things he emphasized this off-season (positioning, rebound control) were also sharp.
“I just tried to focus on the simple things that I could control and not think too much,” Sorokin said. “But it’s just one game, I don’t think about the results. I just think about my game and what I can do better.”
This game was a good reminder that other teams, even those with higher expectations than the Isles, are also going through some stuff. Colorado goaltender and historical Islanders-killer Alexandar Georgiev has been wretched this season, and the Islanders were the benefactors on Monday night.
They also played a strong road game. After an early defensive breakdown led to the first NHL goal of Calum Ritchie’s career (of course!), Anders Lee (blackeye and all) stuffed in his first of the season. That was followed by two great individual efforts by Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson to take control of the game.
It was a night of firsts. The first win of the season came in Sorokin’s first game of the season on the back of four different players scoring their first goals. Oh, and they even scored an empty net goal. They didn’t do that until Feb. 29 last year.
